We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tyler Grant. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tyler below.
Tyler, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
My Mom is one of the most selfless people I have ever known. She ran every program at our church for many years and still runs most of them. From the food pantry, back to school programs, Christmas and thanksgiving programs for those in need. She will be working from 4 am until midnight to make sure people got what they needed.
My Dad taught me to know a little about a lot, ask the right questions, and you’ll know what you need to hammer to get the job done. As well as to never settle or become to complacent, otherwise you won’t see growth.
Both of them have impacted me and my choices as I left college. The year I graduated, I bought my first house, rented the 2nd floor and put myself into a risky position (looking back, it was riskier than I realized). It lit a fire under me to learn more and in turn, mitigate the risk. No matter what financial woes hit me, from insurance increases, pipes bursting, roof repair, furnace troubles. I never raised the rent on the family above me. Even though it was 50% below market, it didn’t feel right. That’s the empathy I learned from my mom showing. It has all worked out so far, from their low rent, they were able to save up enough to buy their own home and give their daughter a place to grow up in. Nothing has felt more rewarding than seeing that.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I went to Johnson and Wales University for hospitality. After a year I realized that wasn’t for me and switched to accounting. I didn’t want to go the CPA route however because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my degree. When I graduated, I got a very simple accounting job, learned a little and moved onto consulting.
While consulting I learned how to manage a small team, as well as the real meat and potatoes of the accounting world. I used that tacit knowledge to get a job with biotech company, Oligo Factory Inc.. I am the finance and accounting department. I have learned more in this position and had more transparency with direct company finances than I would have ever imagined so early in my career.
Our organization creates custom synthetic oligonucleotides (RNA and or DNA). The science behind it is beyond my ability to explain, though I have learned as much from the scientists and chemist as possible. I wouldn’t do the product justice if I tried to describe it. Being a startup company, growth is slow, but it is still there. We moved to a new, larger and improved facility, we have grown our clientele, and increased our visibility. I am proud to be a part of this process, and I don’t think I would know what I know today if I didn’t take the position.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
I only managed a small team for less than a year before I moved on. However, from that experience and what I have observed in my current position. Transparency, honesty and trust are among the most important virtues for managing a team.
Transparency and honesty almost go hand in hand. If you’re not honest with the position your team is in or transparent with the health of the company, people start to get shaken.
Of people are unsure of the project being accepted, the companies health, or if restructuring is going to happen, they will act as if the worst is about to come. They will apply elsewhere where stability is assured.
Trust is crucial in this. If you don’t trust your team to get the job done, and you micromanage everything, it plants doubt in their minds. Doubting that they are competent to do their job, or doubting the success of the project. Micromanagement can be perceived as a lack of trust in competency as well as grown concern that failure is likely to happen.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
There was one book that really changed my life and how I viewed money in particular. The classic, Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. I take everything, including that book with a grain of salt. That book is what made me decided to buy my first duplex so early. Shifting the way of thinking that all debt is bad. Learning the real difference between bad debt and good debt, how to make money work for me. Every dollar has its job. How you appoint that dollars position is what really matters.
I would never recommend anyone to read anything and confirm their philosophy to that literature. Read, watch, and listen to many sources and develop your philosophy as you go. Adapt and change the way you think when you learn something new. Trust yourself enough to know what is fact and what is fiction. Do not follow a singular “successful” person and ignore the rest. The most successful people surround themselves by many people smarter than themselves. Diversify your sources and your philosophy with develop.
Contact Info:
- Linkedin: Tyler Grant
Image Credits
Jonathan Route